Frequent collaborator and friend Ludacris makes a guest vocal appearance, as does labelmate and fellow Atlanta-native, Usher.

Most critics praised the eleven-track set for its strong productions and cohesive themes, which drew comparisons to the early career of Janet Jackson.

On February 14, 2011, just two months after the album's release, Ciara published a statement detailing the issues she experienced with Basic Instinct.

She detailed how she alone paid over $100,000 for the "Gimmie Dat" music video and how the label refused to promote the singles on US radio stations.

Ciara openly criticized her label for the lack of support with Basic Instinct, as well as her previous album, Fantasy Ride, and asked to be released from her contract with LaFace Records (Jive), as a result.

[2] In December 2009, Digital Spy reported that Ciara had begun working Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, someone she had previously collaborated with for Fantasy Ride (2009).

[6] When asked what the recording process of her new album was like, Ciara made the following comments to Maxim magazine "It's the coolest, can't lie.

[12] On April 20, 2010, the singer revealed a new official website, OnlyCiara Archived March 11, 2015, at the Wayback Machine to promote the album.

She performed singles and previewed tracks from the album at venues in Dallas, Texas and Governor's Island, New York, throughout July and August 2010.".

'Idolator' said "Ciara has been tempting us with her sexy new single 'Ride' ... but if you're looking for her goodies keep on looking because their [sic] not on her Basic Instinct album cover (unless it's a seductive Playboy-esque fold out).

"[19] Ciara then outlined plans for a mixtape to precede the album's release, in preparation she recorded remixes to Soulja Boy Tell 'Em's "Pretty Boy Swag" ("Pretty Girl Swag") and Waka Flocka Flame's "Hard in Da Paint", as well as a cover of Young Jeezy's "Lose My Mind".

from the Los Angeles Times, if the label [ LaFace Records ] had anything to do with the delays in release or late promotion, Ciara replied "I did see a few comments and I said, 'You know what?

[51] Allmusic writer Andy Kellman gave it 4 out of 5 stars and called it Ciara's "most consistent and unified release [...] one of 2010's finest pop-R&B albums".

[41] Entertainment Weekly's Simon Vozick-Levinson gave Basic Instinct a B+ rating and viewed that The-Dream and Tricky Stewart's contributions "play towards Ciara's strengths" due to their "caffeinated synthpop beats and wiggling melodies".

[44] Jon Pareles of The New York Times commented that the album "never deviates from an underlying two-bar, three-chord vamp, but its synthetic orchestrations vary unpredictably while Ciara's voice curls around the repeating chords on multiple paths".

[47] BBC Online's Matthew Horton called it "one of the best RnB albums of the year [...] vibrant, addictive and sleek, a calling card for modern RnB shorn of filler and gauche imitation", writing that Ciara "really becomes the new Janet Jackson, mixing sugary vocals and tempered aggression and rolling over the beats in time-honoured [Janet] Jackson fashion.

[42] Matthew Cole of Slant Magazine called it "a svelte and cohesive collection that serves up one glitzy guilty pleasure after another", stating "It's pretty rare that a singles artist decides, seven years into her career, to make her first concerted effort at an album that works as a front-to-back listen.

"[48] However, Los Angeles Times writer Randall Roberts found that "the lyrics don't matter" and wrote that the album "offers enough android booty bass action to satisfy those who like their rhythms complicated but repetitive and hooks foreseeable from a mile away, but pleasant enough when they arrive".

[45] USA Today's Jerry Shriver gave it 2 out of 4 stars and viewed The-Dream and Tricky Stewart's production as "sometimes incompatible with their client's soft, breathy (and pleasant) pop voice".

[43] Allison Stewart of The Washington Post wrote that "she hasn't the gravity to carry off lesser songs" and called the album "a personalized mea culpa that's meant to make it okay to like Ciara again, a feat that remains beyond her limited powers of persuasion".

[50] MTV UK's Joseph Patterson criticized some of its sexual themes, but described the album "as a credible comeback from a classy lady who it seems is having a bit of an identity crisis", concluding that "With it, Ciara has shown just enough that she knows how to stay current without forgetting her roots, only it comes a little late".

[53] Consequently, it marks the first time in Ciara's career that one of her albums has missed the top ten, as well as continuing a downward trend in success.

[57] In February 2011, online rumors were circulated that Ciara had been dropped from Jive Records due to the album's lack of commercial success.

Aside from funding one of the album's music videos, and paying for the radio release of "Gimmie Dat", she revealed that the label no longer saw her as commercially viable.

[60] It was sleeper hit, eventually receiving a Silver certification from the British Phonographic Industry on May 6, 2022, for sales and streams in excess of 60,000 copies, becoming her third album to reach the milestone after Goodies (2004) and Ciara: The Evolution (2006).